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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27195373">with love and cinnamon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/defiersofthestars/pseuds/defiersofthestars'>defiersofthestars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barista Rey (Star Wars), Ben quotes writers by heart (and reads his own thing), Coffee, Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Jyn and Cassian are alive and love coffee, Knights of Ren are now new, Let fluff conquer!, Loss of Virginity, Love at First Sight, Professor Ben Solo, Soft Ben Solo, a brief description of smut, just imagine Ben Solo reading Shakespeare aloud, so do Finn and Poe, so does Maz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:07:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27195373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/defiersofthestars/pseuds/defiersofthestars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Rey..." Rose sounds a bit tense.</p><p>"Wait, I get it. Soft… Observant… Lovesome… Oh yesssss, he is…"</p><p>Rose clears her throat, but Rey doesn’t notice, enjoying her own wit.</p><p>"… and… Outstanding! What do we get here, mmm? SOLO! I wish there was K for kissa-"</p><p>‘Rey!’ is barely a squeak.</p><p>This is when Rey realizes she speaks loud enough to let anyone approaching the counter at this moment hear her along with Rose. She slowly rises to her full height – to meet the gobsmacked gaze of her object of desire across the counter.</p><p>__________</p><p>Or: Barista Rey Niima is crazy in love with as-hot-as-shy literature professor Ben Solo. For several months, he has been coming to the Astera cafe to tutor slow learners, and she always makes special pictures on his coffee by herself. One day Rey tells her co-worker Rose how she felt about Ben and doesn't notice him standing by a counter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso, Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>276</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Ijustfellintothissendhelp, Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Built like a refrigerator, soft as your buns</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote a prompt. Then I wrote a microfic. And then I found myself writing a whole story (and a little rhyming poem I'm very proud of). Hope you'll like it!<br/>P.S. English is not my first language, but I worked really hard :D I don't have a beta, so any mistakes are my own.<br/>P.P.S. A moodboard is made by wizard @bensoloswhore on Twitter!</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="https://ibb.co/1ZVhrfs"></a><br/></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>'I thought I knew what love is – and then you proved I didn’t.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But who are you, my sweetheart? Please, listen what I think...'</em>
</p><p>- Ben Solo.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Rey loves her job at <em>Astera</em>, a coffee shop that looks like it’s made of brown bricks and pieces of the sky. Glossy tiles of all shades of blue sparkle here and there, from the walls behind a counter and in a seating area, catching sunlight from large windows. Peculiar constellations on the walls are woven into stems and leaves of drawn flowers framed in wood.</p><p>Rey was caught by Gwen Phasma, <em>Astera</em>’s owner, when she was finishing a sketch of celestial lilies in a backroom after the end of her lunch break. Making it clear that her working time doesn’t include drawing sessions, Phasma then asked if she had other pictures like that. Now, looking at the wall behind her counter, Rey also has an unobstructed view of her personal exhibition with smells of chocolate, spices, and coffee. They are the most loyal friends of hers, the stars in the sky that let her wonder, and the flowers that give pleasure to see bright colors and delicate forms.</p><p>Another thing she loves about <em>Astera </em>is its regulars.</p><p>On Wednesdays, Mr. Cassian Andor and his wife, Mrs. Jyn Erso Andor, take the table by the window. With a nice smile, Mr. Andor orders two cups of cappuccino and two freshly baked almond éclairs. Rey makes sure to save the prettiest for them. They talk quietly, smirking at each other, looking the very image of life-long love and comfort of being together. Watching Mrs. Erso Andor wiping crumbs off her husband’s grey beard with a napkin, Rey hopes that one day she’ll be able to learn what it feels like – to belong to someone, to be a part of a <em>family</em>.</p><p>Mrs. Kanata, an old lady with a sharp tongue and small hands, comes every Friday morning. She orders herself a cup of spiced milk tea and cherry cheesecake and spends an hour and a half, looking through the latest issue of <em>Takodana Business Weekend</em> and scolding silly brokers under her breath. Rey and her co-workers suspect she used to be a head of some kind of a cartel and still wants to have her finger on the pulse of big business.</p><p>On Sunday afternoons, she usually heats two sandwiches with chicken and cheese and makes cold brew coffee to go for Finn and Poe Dameron. They go to a park to work on their design projects, but you can tell at first sight they think about anything but actual work with each other. They’re different from her Wednesday regulars, both more vivacious and louder, but seeing the same warm feelings and mutual trust makes Rey smile – and a bit jealous. They were lucky enough to find and keep each other, and it seems like the start of something wonderful.</p><p>And finally, it’s <em>him</em>. As tall as shy, as handsome as brooding, bright and broad-shouldered. Ben Solo, a young professor of literature at the Royal College of Theed.</p><p>Rey took one look to fall for him once and for all.</p><p> </p><p>For several months, he has been coming on Mondays (<em>what a perfect start of a week!</em>) and Thursdays after lunch to tutor slow learners. Minutes before him coming, Rey removes a reserved sign from the corner table he always takes and turns music down. There are enough waiters in <em>Astera</em>, but it’s the closest table to her counter, so she has a very good reason to take and bring orders there by herself. He greets her with a faint ghost of smile and a quick glance from under the waves of dark locks touching his shoulders. One day Rey caught a glimpse of the tip of his ear turning pink when she accidentally touched his hand, taking away his empty cup. This made her heart flutter in her chest, even though since that he has been acting like nothing happened – no empty talks, same politeness, same generous tip.</p><p><em>A true gentleman</em>, Rey says herself, sighing. Spending barely five minutes with Ben Solo per week, she understands the real meaning of the phrase <em>Carpe Diem</em> better than anyone.</p><p>He always orders latte with extra cinnamon. Rey knows he had a tough day when he asks her to make it with <em>chocolate</em> milk, his brows furrowed, the corners of his full lips pulled down. He schools his face into a neutral expression right by the start of his session, but she notices.</p><p>Is something wrong with his friends or family? <em>Someone</em> else important to him? Did his students disappoint him? Did they insult him by making serious mistakes in their Dickens essays? (There’s no hint of mockery in her thoughts. She knows he <em>really</em> cares about his job. She would be upset too, if someone found her raspberry frappe bland.)</p><p>Rey wholeheartedly wants to reassure him at times like this, but she doubts he’d welcome the interruption. Ben Solo surely has no intention to open his heart to any person but one made of ink and paper. He never lets himself be too adamant about characters, instead showing compassion and patiently explaining to his student the most complex story arcs. She feels he does it sincerely, and it makes her heart warm how he always finds right words to describe complicated feelings. Too bad he never even <em>looks</em> at her for more than two seconds.</p><p>So, she has no choice but to distill her love, her care for him into latte art. With cinnamon, toothpicks, and plenty of her handmade stencils, she makes small pictures on his coffee. They were random at first – an open book, a quill, planets and moons, a bird – but now they depend on what she heard him telling his students about last time and which books he mentioned. She makes a sailboat for <em>The Old Twi'lek and the Sea</em>, a lightning bolt and a thoughtful profile of Mary Shelley for <em>Grievoustein</em>, two eyes wide open for <em>The Great Akbar</em>, a bowler hat for <em>Great Expectations</em>, Shakespeare’s curly head. And so on.</p><p>'<em>Thank you'</em> is his usual quiet reply with a hint of amusement. Rey smiles, even though he wouldn’t notice it, always looking down at his cup, his strong shoulders hunching. Sometimes she swears ‘<em>Thank you’</em> is followed by a breathed ‘<em>Exquisite’. </em></p><p>“You’re welcome.”</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p>“Why did you look up ‘Dracula movie’ on your phone?” Rose asks her, coming to take a cup of matcha latte for a gorgeous young woman that looks like she’s just escaped from a <em>Vogue </em>cover.</p><p>Rey shrugs, dropping her gaze. “Just curious.”</p><p>“So, there’s no connection to what our darling Professor <em>Hot Bookworm</em> Solo said on Monday about his plans for future sessions?”</p><p>“Did he? I wasn’t listening,” she replies, pretending to be very busy with a pile of napkins.</p><p>“Mmm, at least you agree he’s <em>darling Hot Bookworm</em>.” Rose winks at her before leaving. Rey squeezes the poor napkins tightly. She had tried to hide her feelings for Ben Solo ("<em>Blimey, can I take a short turn about the shop too?”</em>) at first, but they quickly became clear to her co-workers.</p><p>With a sigh, she returns to her smartphone. She still needs to find some good pictures of leading actors and practice a little – just before looking up something for the future <em>Pride &amp; Prejudice</em> day. This may be silly. Even stupid. But cinnamon is her only hope for feeling herself… <em>needed</em>. To let someone know he means something, just like that, the thing very few people ever did for her.</p><p>People keep telling her about love, but sometimes Rey gets scared to tears no one needs that love she has inside her, nor anyone would like to share theirs. Rose, Kaydel, Paige, even her regulars call her an angel, their sunshine ‘<em>with eyes like green amber that deserves everything’</em>, but Rey still has no actual proofs she does. Her parents abandoned her many years ago, leaving her nothing except a few blurry memories smelling of alcohol, and since that she’s learned to take care of herself without any help. <em>She</em> buys herself small gifts, if she wants. <em>She </em>makes herself cookies to cheer up. And she wants Ben Solo to have someone who would make him latte with chocolate milk when he needs it.</p><p>Just one thought about him on other days makes her fingers moving faster above a cup, making the most beautiful, <em>exquisite </em>pictures a barista could ever imagine. Somehow, she seems to transform the energy of his words into her arts.</p><p>Kaydel approaches the counter, and Rey looks up, smiling as always. Anyway, now it’s time to dissolve her thoughts in espresso for making affogato.</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p>It’s Thursday, and Rey does her best to hear Ben Solo speaking of <em>The Merchant of Aldera </em>despite the noise of steaming machines at the counter and quite music from above her head. His velvet voice is serious and penetrates deep inside her, and she can also sense a tone of curiosity, as if he is exploring a fictional world right now, along with his students. This is mesmerizing, as always.</p><p>She pours chocolate syrup over clouds of whipped cream, while he says:</p><p>“…here we see two worlds opposed to each other. The one belongs to joy, beauty and friendship, while the other is of anger and greed. During the whole play we watch them clashing each other in nothing less than a life-and-death war. Can you tell me who started it?”</p><p>He waits patiently, perching on his chair. Turning away from a cocoa shaker for a second, Rey throws a quick glance at his students, but everybody looks puzzled. One of them, Vicrul, finally breaks silence.</p><p>“No one? Seems like they were fighting forever.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>Rey can’t help but smiles at the quiet, proud ‘<em>Yeahh’</em> from the guy. Ben taps his fingers on his notes.</p><p>“Shakespeare showed us both sides were aggressive and despised and hateful towards each other long before the characters came on the scene. They all are just new warriors at this war. As you remember, Bassanio and his friends were able to see beauty and grace around them but treated people who felt differently with disdain. Do you remember the merciless words of Lorenzo?</p><p> </p><p>“’<em>The man that hath no music in himself, </em></p><p>
  <em>Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils; </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The motions of his spirit are dull as night </em>
</p><p>
  <em>And his affections dark as Erebus.’”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He sounds better than any actor from the Shakespeare movie adaptations Rey has seen. His face is full of solemnity, as he quotes the play by memory, his perfectly imperfect features surprisingly soft in the light of lamps, as if he is really sorry for people who have no music inside them. The students watch him with their mouths slightly open, and Rey has to remind herself she has work to do.</p><p>Does she have this music inside her? She tilts her head, looking at her pictures on the wall and then at the elegant white swan she’s just made on a top of latte macchiato. Yes, she has. And Ben Solo has it too.</p><p>He clears his throat, and the enchantment fades. Everybody at his table seems to be able to breath again. Waving his hand, he continues:</p><p>“So, after reading the play, would you say that Shakespeare clearly divided the world of <em>The Merchant </em>into good and bad?”</p><p>“Wait, Professor Solo.” Vicrul sits up, squeezing his datapad as if gaining strength to speak. “Shylock had a wife whom he loved, and he still loved his daughter who stole the ring of her late mother he held very dear and betrayed him. He was not… a hundred percent bad. I’d say he was very depressed.”</p><p>Ben looks at him attentively, encouraging to go on.</p><p>“And he was insulted many times in front of everyone by Antonio and the others. That was fu- Sorry, Professor, I mean, that was not very nice!”</p><p>Rey snorts, reaching for a rag, while the rest of the students nods in agreement. Ben claps his hands together, looking satisfied.</p><p>“Exactly! So, what do we have here? Shakespeare showed that there are no unambiguously good and bad people but they can be happy or not instead. What is more, you can find something bright and beautiful, a bittersweet memory of lost love, for example, in the soul of the darkest person you’ve ever met. A spark in outer darkness, music in silence, whatever you want to call it. Likewise, one day good people can surprise you too. This doesn’t mean you should trust no one,” he adds quickly, noticing them fidgeting on their seats, ready to object. “I just want to ask you to never rush to put labels, neither while reading a book nor in everyday life. What you assume to be a creature of <em>the dark side, </em>to use Cardo’s words, may not be utterly so.”</p><p>“It's like in <em>Harry Potter</em>, right?” asks Voe, the only girl in their group. “<em>We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matter is the part we choose to act on</em>.”</p><p>“Or in <em>Galactic Battles</em>,” Rey says aloud, surprising herself as much as Ben and the others, who turn to look at her. Rose and Paige freeze near the tables they’re waiting, exchanging amused glances.</p><p>Rey blushes, then comes closer and leans against the corner of the counter. She has always been a quiet listener of their discussions, but it’s becoming too difficult for her to stand by. Last time they compared Ophelia and Portia, and she was about to rush to shake hands with Vicrul who said there were too many deaths in <em>Hamlet </em>and that it would be cool if Ophelia was alive, like in that new movie. She was ready to do something <em>more</em> with Ben who agreed (after pointing out this would harm the very idea of <em>Hamlet</em> as a tragedy): “<em>Although I admire the writers talented enough to rip the heart from your chest with nothing but their words, my idea of a perfect ending is always going to be more sentimental and obvious</em>.”</p><p>A tree of a man, he looked slightly embarrassed at that moment, catching her eyes full of sympathy.</p><p>“I-I mean, it’s all about the importance of the balance of light and darkness in your soul,” Rey explains, her gaze dancing from one to the other. “Nobody is always happy, and the fear of imperfection leads to anger and hatred. You better think good thoughts, but, to achieve peace, you also need to accept your worries instead of suppressing them. Oh, and I watched <em>the Order of the Phoenix </em>too. It’s a good movie.”</p><p>She shrugs casually at their gazes and quiet chuckles and returns to her coffee, the image of Ben’s lips twitching into the barest smile standing before her eyes.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to say,” he confirms almost absentmindedly.</p><p>Several minutes later they all stand up to leave. Passing by the students buttoning up their jackets, Rey goes to clear the table.</p><p>“You know, Professor Solo,” Voe says, “I still think Portia’s character was the best thing in this play. She’s smart and rich, she never panicked and didn’t care what other people might think. Although her arguments as a lawyer were acknowledged as pretty doubtful, I still want to write about her in my feminism essay for Professor Tai.”</p><p>“And she had no parents,” adds Ushar, “but still, she was so full of happiness and life. And she was ready to share them with the whole world. My grandma was the same.”</p><p>Everybody smiles, Ushar and Cardo laughing at the memory of Mrs. Candia's chocolate chip cookies.</p><p>“Yes, Voe, Portia's an amazing character,” Ben agrees, stopping by the counter to tie his scarf. “Shining like a star, she lighted up the world of those she loved most with just one glance of her green eyes.”</p><p>“They were green?” Vicrul asks in surprise. “But… she herself described jealousy as a green-eyed thing, Professor Solo.”</p><p>Ben pauses, looking confused. Seems like he didn’t want it to slip out, as if referring to something intimate, and now needs help – of his barista, probably.</p><p>“Excuse me – coffee to go for anybody?” Rey asks loudly with a wide smile to gain their attention.</p><p>“Oh, yeah. Cappuccino with almond milk, please.” Voe replies immediately, pulling back her long powder white hair. With a nod, Rey returns to the counter, while the others gather in front of the pastry display.</p><p>“Which Hogwarts house are you in?”</p><p>“Ravenclaw,” Voe winks at her, and Rey grins in response, hands already busy with ingredients. “And you?”</p><p>“Hufflepuff. Nice to meet you.”</p><p>“Well spotted, Vicrul, thank you,” Ben says meanwhile, his voice just a little higher than usual. “Even so, I have to say I’ve always seen Portia as a woman with green eyes too. Shakespeare did everything to introduce her to us as truly exceptional, and it’s a well-known fact that many women with red hair and green eyes were killed during a period of witch-hunts in Europe. Green eyes were rare before, and they remain so even now.”</p><p>“I love this picture,” Voe points at the drawings behind the counter, specifically, at the pink rose Rey wrapped in the silver constellation created by herself. “And all the rest. Do you know who drew them?”</p><p>“I did,” she replies simply, carefully pouring almond milk into Voe’s cup and reaching out for a toothpick. This is followed by loud gasps and impressed ‘<em>wow’</em> from Ushar.</p><p>“You’re a true wizard, Rey, huh. They’re cool,” Voe tells her, voice low with admiration. “But why exactly this combination?”</p><p>“I like the theory that all the elements on our planet were created by stars millions of years ago. So,” feeling their gazes on the back of her head, Rey makes a raven with its wings spread wide, “You may say that the first ever flowers bloomed from the dust of ancient stars. They still do, actually.”</p><p>She hands Voe her cup and a lid, watching her smile at the bird.</p><p>“Thank you for choosing this place from all the shops around, Professor Solo,” Voe says, turning to him. Ben manages a chuckle, looking down to study the belt of his black trench coat in intense concentration.</p><p>Saying goodbye, the students make their way to the door. Looking somewhere below Rey’s chin, Ben hesitates, his fingers nervously tangling in the end of his scarf. Now, when he doesn’t speak or answer questions about the things he likes and knows by heart anymore, he looks lost. (The fact that he easily towers over Rey, his shoulders broad and sturdy, doesn’t help the situation.)</p><p>“Would you like some coffee too, Professor Solo? Or tea?” she asks almost tenderly. He shakes his head, running a hand through his waved dark hair, and meets her gaze.</p><p>“No, thanks. Um… This is a charming drawing. I mean, all of them. And your coffee pictures… Nice work, Rey.”</p><p>He has never told her so many words at one time before, and still, if Rey didn’t hear him quoting Shakespeare, she’d think he started to learn language just several days ago.</p><p><em>Nice work. </em>He’s adorable.</p><p>“Thank you, Professor Solo.”</p><p>She finds herself thinking she could spend her entire life like this, looking into his brown eyes, enveloped by a delicious smell of warm spices and coffee.</p><p>“You did well too, you know,” she smirks, trying to help him relax. His lips quiver, as if he is not sure whether to laugh, to reply, or to keep silent. Finally, he speaks, but Rey sees him fighting himself to say something entirely different.</p><p>“Hope so. I have to go. Goodbye.”</p><p>He turns on his heels before she can utter ‘<em>Bye’</em> and storms out of the shop. Rey releases a deep breath, gazing at the door shutter closed. Sneaking up behind her back, Rose squeezes her shoulders, whispering excitedly:</p><p>“Congrats, Sunshine, you talked to Professor for one minute moooore! Just breathe, okay? What do you need now? A glass of water? A napkin? A condom if he won’t find one? I stood right there when you guys talked about your drawings, and, gosh, he looked like he’s about to break through the damn glass to grab you and kiss and-”</p><p>Rey frees herself swiftly.</p><p>“Jeez, are you crazy?” she replies in a hushed tone. “He only told my work was <em>nice</em>.”</p><p>“Poor boy, he knows <em>nothing</em> about condoms. Ask us, if you will need one.”</p><p>With a squeak, Rose dodges the rag.</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Two days later, on Saturday, Rey finds herself actually asking Rose for help. The reason is a bit different from what they both could expect, although it’s not without Ben Solo.</p><p>She wakes up in the morning with her throat sore and eyes burning. Her first thought is about a bucket of chocolate peanut butter ice cream from the yesterday evening in the company of <em>The Hollow Crown</em>, but a slight fever to boot makes her think there was something more than that. A draft in spring can be surprisingly insidious.</p><p>Rey grabs her phone to call Phasma and tell her she had flu, but then another realization strikes her so hard she gasps. She won’t be able to show up to work at least on the few following days, even with bacta pills that work pretty quickly. Phasma will find someone to heat sandwiches, make coffee and other stuff, but… what about coffee for Professor Solo?</p><p>So, after calling Phasma who told her stay at home ‘<em>till the last sneeze, and I don’t give a fuck about bacta pills’</em>, she spends nearly ten minutes talking to Rose.</p><p>“…Promise you’ll practice a little? I sent you links to some videos. Did you find the stencils I made for him?”</p><p>Rose sighs.</p><p>“For the millionth time, Rey, I’ll try my best to make perfect balance scales or a woman’s profile or whatever, but no promises. Don’t worry, I would never forget about your eloquent mountain of a man.”</p><p>“He’s not my-<em>ahchoo!</em>”</p><p>“Bless you, dear, he is.”</p><p>“Do we have chocolate milk in the fridge? He may ask you to-“</p><p>“Rey, <em>calm down</em>! I hear and see very well, and I know what to do. I can handle it.”</p><p>“Okay, okay, I just worry about one of our regulars and tips. A perfect employee and all that,” Rey downs a pill before taking a short drought of water from a mug.</p><p>“About <em>what</em>? Don’t make me laugh like hell, please, Phasma’s here. I’ll send you regular reports on how Professor does without the coffee made by your loving hands.”</p><p>Rey rolls her eyes and sighs at the gaiety in her voice.</p><p>“Rose… please, don’t embarrass him in front of the whole shop, okay? And don’t mention me!”</p><p>“As you wish. Get better, angel!”</p><p>Having no trust in Rose’s ability to keep quiet, Rey decides to lie down to get healthy as fast as possible.</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>On Monday, armed with a pile of pills, hot tea, and a whole pot of chicken soup, she curls under a warm blanket in her room, her hand gripping her smartphone. His session is about to start very soon.</p><p>She gets a text from Rose and barely takes her eyes off the screen for a long time after that.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>I can see your extra nervous ass from the backroom</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>How do you feel?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>A lil better. You ready?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Rey</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>This is not a galactic battle</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I CAN MAKE A CUP OF COFFEE</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p><strong> <em>Thank you :)</em></strong> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Did you practice art?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>YES</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I’d block you, if I didn’t know you’d run over here wiping your snotty nose and infecting innocent people without hearing about him</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I love you</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Bbs</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Sipping her soup, Rey wonders how Ben looks like today. Does he wear the same blue shirt? Or that red sweater she likes so much? Whom he is going to quote with that marvelous voice of his this time?</p><p>Her gaze traces a line of succulents on her window ledge, drawings on her walls, but she sees nothing but his eyes she looked into on Thursday. It was just a few seconds, but Rey is a master of <em>Carpe Diem</em>.</p><p>As if reading her mind, Rose sends her a picture of Ben sitting at the usual place, his raven head bent over his bag. Rey guessed right – today it’s a red sweater, and he looks as handsome as usual. The picture is followed by a text:</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Just to help you feel better :*</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Rey is ready to joke back with something like ‘<em>I need more tbh’</em>, but she knows that in this case Rose will take a whole photo session.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Rey</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>What do you slip into his coffee?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Rey furrows her eyebrows.</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Pardon me?</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>I made him latte with cinnamon and CHOCOLATE milk, but you’d take it for poison</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>He looks down in the dumps</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Forgetting about the soup, Rey types as fast as she can.</p><p><strong> </strong> <strong>  </strong></p><p>
  <strong> <em>What did you say to him?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Is this about the picture?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>ROSE </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>He looked shocked when he saw me by his table </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>That sad mountain of a man</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Rey, I’m sorry</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Had to tell him you had flu</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>And he said “Oh”, like, with both relief and horror</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Lmao is it even possible????? </em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Rey can’t hold back a smile. Ben Solo is more than able to do both. As for the rest, everybody knows how much Rose loves exaggerating.</p><p><strong> </strong> <strong>  </strong></p><p>
  <strong> <em>I hope you’ll 4give me, because I made the sun on his latte</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Not Shakespearen, but he’s really sad</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>She studies a received picture of a sunrise with the landscape made with cinnamon and breathes a sigh of relief. Rose did great.</p><p>
  <a href="https://imgbb.com/">  </a>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Rosie, it’s fantastic! TY love :******</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Professor doesn’t think so lol</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I would be mortified, if I didn’t know it’s all about your love charms</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>They rlly work</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Oh please</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>We never talk to each other</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>He probably thought I quit</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Just used to me always being here behind the counter</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Idk maybe it makes him feel comfortable somehow</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p><em>And me too</em>, she thinks but never sends.</p><p>Finishing her soup, Rey turns on music (a soundtrack from the last <em>Pride and Prejudice</em>) and reaches for a pencil and a sketchbook. Before making pictures with cinnamon, she has to practice a little to pull something good out of her imprisonment.</p><p>It’s been almost two hours, and Rose replies.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Okaaaaaay</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Shit this phone didn’t record his voice</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I’ll do it next time</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>But I swear, he gave two more Shakespeare’s characters green eyes just like that</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Bet Viola from Twelfth Night will get 3 buns next time ;)</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s face falls in a moment, and she turns her phone screen down on a <em>Galactic Battles</em> droid pillow.</p><p>Reminding Rose of the reasonable explanation he voiced last Thursday would be a waste of time. She is wonderful, but she thinks everybody else is as easy-going as her and Paige. This is about the Tico sisters – quick to laugh, quick to make friends and even more than that. The point is, when something’s wrong, they always have each other here to find support. Some people are not so lucky.</p><p>She thinks about it more, her hand sketching out a new face between the profiles of two actors.</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p>Three days passed. Juggling pills, gargling bottles, bowls of soup and huge mugs of hot tea, Rey has managed to get rid of a fever and the ball of barbed wire that scratched her throat from inside so badly.</p><p>On Thursday afternoon, she eats a full tablespoon of honey with cinnamon before pouring herself hot tea with a slice of lemon to get ready for a new report from <em>Astera.</em></p><p>Like Finn and Poe Dameron, Mr. Andor and Mrs. Erso Andor were sending her their best wishes for health, Rose told her yesterday. And now she wants more than anything to make them work.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Rey </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I ltrlly saw hope dying in his eyes as soon as he walked in and didn’t see you here</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Kriff </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I’m ready to kill that asshole who sneezed on you with my own hands</em> </strong>
</p><p><strong> </strong> <strong>  </strong></p><p> </p><p><strong> <em>Calm down, I’ll be back on Monday, I promise :)</em></strong> </p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>BLESS YOU</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Professor is in a choc milk mood again</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>But I think you’ll find him as hot as usual</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Rose sends her a new picture from behind the counter. Today Ben wears a green shirt that brings out his ravishing brown eyes (Rey knows that, even if on the picture he looks down), his dark locks perfect as usual. Is it even legal?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>I will</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Thank you xoxo</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I’ll try to record his voice for you today</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>For medicinal purposes</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>What are you doing to me ma’am</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>A dreamy smile appears on her lips, as she remembers last Thursday, when he quoted Shakespeare with that low voice of his. ‘<em>The man that hath no music in himself…’</em></p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Sending you positive vibes</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Actually</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I have an idea</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>What idea?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>???????????????</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>ROSE</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>You’re not talking to him with that devil smile of yours, right?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Relax</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I made him a rose on his latte, just like you did for his first Shakespeare session</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>No scales sorry</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>But I swear he recognized it and almost SMILED</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>And he 100% heard me telling Kaydel you were doing your best to get better &amp; that we would see you on Monday</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>HE SMILED AGAIN OMG</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I can see what’s happening</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>And they don’t have a clueeeeee</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p>Rey groans, covering her face with her hand. Her poor Professor is in great danger. What will Rose do next – say Rey’s phone number out aloud?</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Please </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Leave him alone</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>He has his reasons for smiling</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Of course</em> </strong>
</p><p><strong> <em>And I’m texting to one of them :)</em></strong> </p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>A small smile appears on Rey’s face, as she looks at the screen.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Ok, fine </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Now STOP</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>You promised me not to embarrass him! </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>OK one more thing</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Professor Ben Solo – built like a refrigerator, soft as your buns</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Her smile turns into loud, boisterous laugh. This is probably the best description of him.</p><p><strong> </strong> <strong>  </strong></p><p><strong> <em>Exactly</em> </strong> </p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Rey receives the next text from her in an hour.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>You said that, dreamily looking into nowhere</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Don’t deny it</em> </strong>
</p><p><strong> <em>Enjoy :)</em></strong> </p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>An audio file comes next. Rey presses ‘play’, and Ben Solo’s rich voice fills her room (she doesn’t pay attention to the tickling and thumping noises of the shop). She closes her eyes, seeing his face: a sharp nose, bright eyes under raven black bangs, plush lips mouthing beautiful words like no one else before. She knows she’ll hear it in her head at night, imagining him reading only to<em> her </em>in some little nook.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“…Do not extort thy reasons from this clause,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>For that I woo, thou therefore hast no cause,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But rather reason thus with reason fetter,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Love sought is good, but given unsought better.”</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I decided to adapt the names of some famous works to this mixed reality of mine. Just in case, the references are below:</p><p>The Old Twi'lek and the Sea = The Old Man and the Sea<br/>Grievoustein = Frankenstein<br/>The Great Akbar = The Great Gatsby<br/>The Merchant of Aldera = The Merchant of Venice</p><p>I found beautiful latte art <a href="https://www.thebaristalife.com/blogs/blog/113218693-the-ultimate-guide-to-doing-latte-art">here</a> and <a href="https://perfectdailygrind.com/2016/12/does-latte-art-make-your-coffee-better-or-worse/">there</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. For Hamlet's sake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Secrets are being revealed.<br/>Let Reylo fluff begin!<br/>P.S. The description of the smell of Ben's cologne is based on the one for Tom Ford Ombré Leather that is rumored to be a cologne Adam Driver uses.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Monday morning, Rey finds herself behind the counter, inside her little star of cinnamon light and coffee heat. She looks forward to seeing Ben Solo again, but first she has to deal with a bundle of giggles, energy, and romantic thoughts, otherwise known as Rose Tico.</p><p>Rose greets her with a tight hug at midday, intoning <em>‘The world is right agaaaaaain!’ </em>cheerfully in her ear. Returning a hug, Rey straightens her apron and returns to caramel latte.</p><p>“I hope you liked that audio, honey. It was a risk, you know. Someone could approach the counter and speak loudly, or Professor Refrigerator would suddenly understand there’s no particular need to rebuild an already perfect tower of plastic cups.”</p><p>“I liked it very much, thank you. And Professor <em>Soft </em>Refrigerator doesn’t pay attention to anything but his students and literary characters,” Rey replies with a chuckle.</p><p>“And <em>you</em>, when you decide to share your thoughts on the confrontation of light and darkness in a human soul,” Rose says pointedly, putting a cup of latte on her tray and waiting for mocha with chocolate syrup.</p><p>“Sometimes.”</p><p>Rey knows what’s coming next.</p><p>“He has feelings for you. And you should ask him out, as, between the two of you, you’re surprisingly better at it. No offense.”</p><p><em>As if she’s never dreamt of the same thing. </em>But…</p><p>“Rose, are you sure you don’t confuse his <em>feelings </em>for kindness? One look is not enough, and the least thing I want to do is to make him feel like he owes me! Because he can, no doubt about it. I don’t want to force him to pretend he likes me when in fact he doesn’t!”</p><p>“Rey-”</p><p>“Or… just think what will happen if he says no. It will be an awkward disaster for both of us. I cannot meet his eye, and he won’t come here anymore. And you know that he loves <em>Astera</em>!”</p><p>Rose looks at her, her eyes attentive, the corners of her lips pulled down. Rey does her best to ignore the cold wave these words have sent through her entire body.</p><p>Ben Solo, that shy, introverted, <em>amazing</em> man, appreciates her taking care of him without fanfare or flirting. He needs her, and no matter how much Rey wants something more to be here, she is fine anyway. There is a strange connection between them, but it feels… good. There were not so many good things in Rey’s life in an orphanage and after that to let her risk losing this one so thoughtlessly.</p><p>“Besides, Phasma would burn me alive if she found out it was me who scared off our most generous regular.”</p><p>Rose shakes her head and sighs, taking a cup of mocha. The last argument seems to be strong enough to make her let it go.</p><p>“Our customers are waiting.”</p><p>Rey shoos her away, only to hear the following thing later, during a break between orders:</p><p>“I know Phasma would disagree, but it seems to me we have enough customers to stay afloat. Look,” she waves her hand towards the seating area with a few empty tables, full of hushed voices. “Not only Professor Solo loves <em>Astera</em>.”</p><p>Rey squeezes the edges of the table behind the counter, dropping her head, three buns moving with her.</p><p>“Rose, it’s not that simple. Maybe he doesn’t date. Maybe he’s seeing someone, or there’s a long-distance thing.”</p><p>“Mmm, I don’t think so. I didn’t find anything in the HoloNet.”</p><p>Rey would gasp at her last words, if she wasn’t in the middle of a confession of her deepest fear, with heartache spreading across her chest. Her voice is almost wrecked.</p><p>“Maybe he needs a friend and thinks I’m the one. But there’s a problem. I doubt I’ll ever be able to see <em>him</em> just as a friend too. I don’t want to put myself in this position. I’d rather quit. If anything, let it all stay exactly the way it is.”</p><p><em>But how long?</em> She raises her head, seeing Rose’s thumb gently stroking her right hand. Her kind face is deeply serious, as if she suddenly remembered Rey’s story.</p><p>“Oh, Rey... I’m sorry if I pushed you too hard.”</p><p>“It’s okay.”</p><p>“I may be wrong about him, but you may be too. Love is always worth a try, worth asking. Let’s just wait and see what he will do today.’</p><p>“Yeah, I know all about waiting,” she admits, meaning it as a half-hearted joke.</p><p>“And maybeeeee-” Rose tilts her head, raising her eyebrows.</p><p>“Maybe one day I’ll ask him out.” Rey surrenders with a sigh, feeling much better after sharing her thoughts.</p><p>She looks at the table Ben always sits at, and then at her watches, feeling nervous.</p><p>“He’s a bit late today. I hope he didn’t get sick too…”</p><p>“Rey, you are really an angel, you know that?”</p><p>Rose’s smile is too kind, too sympathetic. Rey groans quietly, turning away from the seating area to check coffee machines just to busy her hands.</p><p>"And he's… gorgeous. You were here during his sessions, so you understand me now, right? How could a human being ever know so much about Shakespeare's metaphors of life and death? And did you notice how he always prefers real books and handwritten notes over some soulless datapad?”</p><p>She shakes her head, her gaze dancing from portafilters to frothing pitchers along with her hands.</p><p>“Yeah, and it’s very hot of him,” Rose chuckles, watching her movements with an ironic yet soft smile. Her voice slow and dreamy, Rey kneels down to check bags of coffee and spices, enjoying every word coming from her mouth. She didn’t see him for too long to stay silent, not to mention her last dreams of him felt too real.</p><p>“I know, right!? I've dreamt of kissing his lips since the first time I saw him. And these golden sparks in his brown eyes. His raven locks. His voice... I’d call him a prince, if I didn’t know he works at the College. His Royal Highness, Prince Ben Solo of Naboo – sounds good, huh. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”</p><p>"Rey..." Rose sounds a bit tense.</p><p>"Wait, wait, I get it. Soft… Observant… Lovesome… Oh yesssss, he <em>is</em>…"</p><p>Rose clears her throat, but Rey doesn’t notice, enjoying her own wit, head full of thoughts about one particular man.</p><p>"… and… Outstanding! What do we get here, mmm? SOLO! I wish there was K for <em>kissa</em>-"</p><p><em>‘Rey!’ </em>is barely a squeak.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>This is when Rey realizes she speaks loud enough to let anyone approaching the counter at this moment hear her along with Rose.</p><p> </p><p>She slowly rises to her full height – to meet the gobsmacked gaze of her object of desire across the counter, his ivory cheeks are pink, his jaw slack.</p><p>Eyes wide with horror, Rey slaps her hands over her mouth, but it’s too late. Rose carefully backs up, as if being afraid of a possible explosion.</p><p>
  <em>How much did he hear?</em>
</p><p><em>“Enough for you to lose him,” </em>says a nasty voice in her head, the same that always reminded that her parents loved drinks more than their daughter.</p><p>All the sounds around fade. This is a real-life nightmare, worse than when Rey had been trampled by a whole herd of shaaks. With her heart frozen, she mentally prices up a one-way ticket to another end of the world – Tatooine, maybe. Who cares it’s very much like Jakku?</p><p>She dares to take a small step towards Ben, hardly breathing, lowering her hands to her collarbone.</p><p>"Professor Solo, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean-"</p><p>He visibly flinches, his eyes narrowing, voice utterly devastated. <em>"You didn't?" </em></p><p> </p><p>Oh. <strong><em>Oh.</em></strong></p><p> </p><p>"No, I did!" She hurriedly reaches out, as if begging him to stay. He steps closer, shielding her from other customers that might turn their attention to what’s happening at the counter. His voice lowers to a whisper, his piercing gaze darts from her lips to her eyes.</p><p>"You meant what?"</p><p>Rey can't manage a single word, mesmerized by hope dawning in his brown eyes, and just beams at him, absolutely helpless.</p><p>"For <em>Hamlet's</em> sake!" Rose exclaims in a hushed voice, marching back to her. "Are you both free tonight?"</p><p>Rey reluctantly turns to look at her, suddenly remembering where they are, as well as that her shift ends shortly after his session. They both nod.</p><p>"Great.” Rose rubs her hands together. “So, after Professor Re… ahem, Solo is done, Rey will take two pieces of this apple pie,” she points at the pastry display to make sure she knows how it looks like, “and make drinks for you both. Then, you go wherever you want and talk properly. Is it okay?”</p><p>She snaps her fingers by Rey’s nose. “It's a DATE, in case if anyone missed it. Any objections?"</p><p>Rey’s ready to smile again, as ‘<em>No’ </em>is about to fall from her mouth, but then Ben raises his hand slightly, as if being in class. Her heart drops to her feet. Then, he asks shyly:</p><p>"Can I have a strawberry tart instead of a pie, please? I-I don’t like apples."</p><p>For two long seconds, all three are silent. Then, exchanging glances, Rose and Rey burst out laughing. Hiding her face with her hands, doubling over, Rey leans against the countertop, trying to catch her breath. When she looks at Ben again, he grins like a boy, with dimples on his cheeks.</p><p>“What’s going on here?”</p><p>An elegant, tall blonde approaches the counter, her ice blue eyes darting from Rey to Rose who both straighten up at once and school their faces. Phasma, a very image of dignity, never yells at her employees, but it’s better not to test her temper. She knows as well as Rey and Rose that Professor Solo doesn’t like small talks.</p><p>“This is all me, miss Phasma,” he says innocently, nodding hello at her. “I was joking about Shakespeare.”</p><p>Phasma barely hides her amusement. “You were?”</p><p>“Yes. Oh, and I promised my students to talk to you about one initiative of theirs. They want to create a book club and host its meetings here, as well as public readings, if all will go well. Will you have time to discuss all the details?”</p><p>Her face morphs into an enthusiastic smile. “Sure, Professor Solo! It’s an excellent idea. I’ll find you later.”</p><p>She leaves them, heading to the kitchen. Ben turns back to Rey, brushing his hair away from his face. Even though his expression is neutral, she detects a never-before-seen, mischievous glint in his eyes that makes her pulse jump.</p><p>“I’m sorry for distracting you, Rey. Latte with extra cinnamon, please. ”</p><p>Lowering his gaze, he pays and leaves tips in a tip jar on the counter before going to his table.</p><p>Rose puts her hand on Rey’s shoulder.</p><p>“Good luck spending a few hours without stealing glances and exclaiming how much you both want to kiss right now. I was right, my girl, I was right about everything, and I’m going to <em>scream</em> about it outside after work.”</p><p>When Rey brings Ben his coffee with a perfect cinnamon dancing figure, he looks up openly at her for the first time. She feels her heart pounding, noting the definite presence of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. This has never happened before, as if they were waiting for her confession.</p><p><em>‘Thank you’</em> is followed by a genuine smile, his ears flushing nicely. She replies with ‘<em>You’re welcome’</em> as usual, trying her best to not to look at his lips.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p>Despite her bravado, the next few hours feel like forever.</p><p>Rey throws herself in the swirls of tea, coffee, various types of milk, cinnamon and sugar. For the first time in recent months, she doesn’t dare to look at the corner table. Just one thought about what she saw in his eyes – that incredible mix of amusement, hope, and tenderness – makes her hands tremble. Rose has no idea how right she was about a desire to kiss him. To take his hand, so large comparing to her own, to loop their fingers and…</p><p>She shakes her head and returns to the perfect rosetta tulip on a top of cappuccino. She can’t let herself lose her edge.</p><p>She wonders if Ben thinks about the same things, but his voice sounds as usual, following her on her way from the fridge to the coffee machines, and then to the counter. Rey would get her answer if she looked him in the eyes, but, knowing they always reveal him, he doesn’t take them off a book. Clearing his throat, he says with a perfect self-control that <em>Twelfth Night</em> could be called a celebration of love that captures your heart in a flash.</p><p>“…This seems to be most evident in the way Duke Orsino, <em>as changeable as the ‘sea’ and as inconsistant as ‘an opal in the sunlight’</em>, fell for Viola after being fascinated by Olivia for the entire play. But we should also keep in mind that, due to his sensual nature, he might feel nothing but <em>the need</em> to love, as well as <em>be able to love</em> only after knowing a person. Cesario was his loyal friend, and Viola became his beloved wife.”</p><p>“How much time a person might need to know and fall in love, is hard to say,” he adds, as if reading Rey‘s mind (<em>Was it a cue? Does he have doubts? Does he think she only has a need to love?</em>). “Shakespeare himself offered us different answers. But nearly 250 years later after him, another writer pointed out what I find fascinatingly true: '<em>There is such a thing as looking through a person's eyes into the heart, and learning more of the depth of another's soul <strong>in one hour</strong> than it might take you a lifetime to discover, if he or she were not disposed to reveal it, or if you had not the sense to understand it</em>.'”</p><p>Through her peripheral vision, Rey sees him turning his head to her. She looks back, catching his pointed glance, and feels warmth on her cheeks. A second later, he already talks to Ushar.</p><p>“Now, back to your paper, Ushar. I like your comparison of Illyria to a crystal ball with glitter, inside which there’s no such thing as real-life problems. I see your reference to Christmas, and I’d just add-”</p><p>Suddenly Paige joins Rey behind the counter.</p><p>“Go to the backroom. It’s fine, I can handle it,” she winks at her, no doubt aware of what happened here between Rey and Ben.</p><p>“What-”</p><p>“Shoo, you beauty!”</p><p>Puzzled, Rey does as told. Kaydel already waits her here – with Rey’s bag in her hand and a curling iron ready.</p><p>“Hurry, we don’t have much time! Phasma has just taken a smoke break, and his session is about to end.”</p><p>Rey’s mouth pops open. Kaydel grabs her hand and sits her down on a chair, grinning like a child.</p><p>“Rose told me. I’m so happy for you both, Rey, and you look beautiful as always, but you have <em>a date</em> with your Professor, and this day must be special in every way.”</p><p>“Thanks. But… Are you sure?” Rey asks, looking at the curling iron as a threat. “I don’t’ want to look cutesy or-”</p><p>“Relax. Slight curls never hurt anyone. In the meantime, you can find the lipstick I gave you – that shade is called <em>'Strawberry'</em>, what a coincidence! – in your makeup bag and all the rest.”</p><p>After giving Kaydel a warm hug, Rey unties her short hair, leaving one accurate top bun, and lets her slightly curl the rest before giving it a spritz of hairspray. Applying mascara, Rey can’t help but giggles, feeling knots of anticipation twisting in her stomach, similar to cinnamon sugar pretzels on the pastry display.</p><p>Right in time, she slips back to her counter, exchanging nods with Paige who shows thumbs up before coming back to the seating area. A moment later, Phasma approaches the corner table to discuss the book club idea. Trying to act as usual, busy with spices and milk, Rey can’t hold back a tiny smile. Her look dances from one her drawing to another, as if she’s trying to make the flowers understand her feelings.</p><p>She has just primped for her date with Ben Solo. Her first real date, with this man who <em>likes her back</em>. She feels dizzy. She’s excited. She’s nervous as hell.</p><p>With all this feelings bubbling up in her heart like hot milk, she automatically waves goodbye to the students leaving the counter with cups and bags with pastries in their hands.</p><p>“Um…”</p><p>And here’s Ben, stands in front of her, burying his hands in his pockets and trying to find words again.</p><p>“I finish in twenty minutes,” she says, shrugging apologetically, as if these words didn’t make her poor heart stutter.</p><p>“Oh, okay. I have one thing to do anyway.”</p><p>Rey nods, smiling at him. Slowly, he smiles back.</p><p>“I love your hair. I mean, not just now,” he awkwardly gestures towards her face. “I’ve never seen anyone who would make triple buns before. You always… you look beautiful.”</p><p>He breathes the last word before lowering his gaze to study the wooden counter. <em>‘Thank you’ </em>is all Rey says before Paige appears near them for a few seconds.</p><p>“I’m terribly sorry… White chocolate mocha, soy cappuccino, espresso.”</p><p>This brings Ben back to reality.</p><p>“Sorry, I was just leaving. Mm, I’ll take a strawberry tart and a piece of apple pie when coming back. And-” he raises his eyebrows in question, “maybe, fruit tea to go… for two? You’ve cured very recently, after all.”</p><p>“Great,” Rey nods in agreement and whispers conspirationally, “<em>And I’m tired of coffee.</em>”</p><p>A small smirk curves his lips. “Not so loud. See you soon.”</p><p>Avoiding meaningful gazes of the <em>Astera </em>waiters, Ben leaves the shop. They surround Rey in a moment (“<em>Gosh</em>, <em>he’s a baby in love!”, “He went off to buy you flowers!” , “So nice I’m gonna die”, “Rey, you need to make him TALK</em>”), but she manages to escape thanks to a bunch of new orders.</p><p>When time comes, Rey leaves the backroom, putting her jacket over her grey tunic.</p><p>“We’ll meet outside. That’s enough embarrassment for him for today,” she adds, catching the looks of Kaydel and Rose full of mock indignation. Taking a bag with pastries and a cup holder with tea for them both, she is stopped by Paige who puts a familiar small foil packet in the pocket of her bag.</p><p>“Just in case. Good luck.” She winks at Rey who turns beet red. Not that she never thought in that direction, to be fair, but it has always seemed impossible, like a cold day in Jakku.</p><p>“B-bye.”</p><p>She hopes brisk evening air will cool her cheeks before Ben could see her. Going down the street, soon she notices him taking long strides to her across a crosswalk. He reaches her in a few seconds, looking guilty.</p><p>“Sorry I’m late, I-”</p><p>“It’s fine. I really needed to get some fresh air.”</p><p>He exhales a breath of relief.</p><p>“Oh, sure, I understand. I-I have something for you.”</p><p>Taking the cup holder, instead he hands her a small velvet bag.</p><p>Rey’s lips part in amusement. Inside she finds an elegant rose brooch, its petals made of a transparent pink mineral. She brushes her fingertips over a delicate form – the most beautiful thing she’s ever held. The butterflies in her stomach wake up again.</p><p>“I don’t know if you’re allergic to flowers or whether you’d like to get a bouquet at all,” Ben explains quickly. “But they have jewelry in a flower shop too, and you put your picture with a pink rose in the center, so I thought it would be a good choice. If you don’t like-”</p><p>“I <em>love </em>it, Professor Solo,” Rey says, looking him deep into his eyes and smiling like never before. “Thank you from my heart. Would you pin it on my lapel, please?”</p><p>He swallows and nods, doing as told, his fingers careful and quick. “Call me Ben.”</p><p>Rey barely keeps herself from catching his hand as he steps back, a whiff of sweet and spicy cologne catching her senses. When she says it aloud, she hardly believes it’s real.</p><p>“Okay, Ben.”</p><p> </p><p>Sipping tea, they walk together, the last rays of the setting sun caressing their faces. Rey finds the feeling of him being so close surprisingly natural, as if she spends every evening like that instead of replaying his words in her mind on her way home, dreaming of catching his glance. He looks less tense too, as if giving her a right gift means he passed a tough test.</p><p>Cream and black, their sleeves brush against each other, their fingers so close and still far from interlacing. Ben and Rey take their time after the storm her confession brought to their souls, both left with glimmers of hope and fragile anticipation of something wonderful it promised.</p><p>Finally, brushing her fingertips over the brooch, she tells him, curious:</p><p>“Actually, I have no allergies, but I don’t like flower bouquets either. Watch them withering day by day only to throw away firewood in the end? Please, no. How did you get this idea, Ben?”</p><p>The sun makes his eyes golden as honey, as he smiles at her words. He loves the way his name sounds on her lips.</p><p>“My grandmother thought the same thing. She had a beautiful garden but never cut flowers from it. Her house was full of pot plants, and we used to buy her a new one for every holiday. I think one of the best things she taught me was not to believe in every stereotype about women and flowers.”</p><p>Rey chuckles. <em>Soft, Observant, Lovesome, Outstanding</em>… She carefully slips her hand in the crook of his elbow. His strong muscles flex momentarily under her fingers and then relax. He doesn’t say anything, but takes a sip of his tea rolling his eyes, like it’s liquor.</p><p>Listening to their footsteps, quiet and leisure under the shade of trees, Rey takes a deep breath. She owes Ben an explanation, but the words seem too heavy, her tongue too thick. Still, the tension of unspoken hangs in the air between them, every moment more unbearable.</p><p>She decides it’s time when they turn left with no destination in mind, but a cluster of dark green trees rising in the distance tells her they are not so far away from Amidala Park.</p><p>Her voice is serious and quiet. “Ben, I should have told you this in the first place.”</p><p>He looks down, searching her face, his jaw tightening and cheeks flushing again. Rey’s eyes cling to the golden sparks in his irises.</p><p>“I never wanted you to find out how I really feel about you like that. It was weird and creepy and looked like I was fishing for something in return. I swear I didn’t hear you coming, even though that was to be expected, it’s Monday. But you were late, and I worried maybe you were sick too, and suddenly it was just too much…“</p><p>Ben’s eyes soften, and he interrupts her, barely touching her elbow.</p><p>“Rey, please, I know.” The deep earnest in his voice makes her close her mouth. “You would never do this on purpose. It was an accident, of course, but I’d rather call it <em>a push</em> that I found I needed very much.”</p><p>The chocolate eyes don’t leave the amber green, the color so rare even now. They slow down without noticing, and it’s like the world itself slows its breath. It’s his turn to bare his soul, the thing much more important now than anything else.</p><p>“I knew what I had to tell you but I didn’t know if I had the strength to do it. Ironic, actually, considering that there are hundreds of writers’ quotes in my memory for all occasions. But neither of them appears to be strong enough to carry the truth about what you mean to me.”</p><p><em>You don’t need words</em>, she wants to say, looking into his expressive eyes. Ben is all wonder and awe, and surprise at his own actions. He frees his elbow and slowly, as if she could disappear from any other touch, laces his fingers through hers. She locks them, barely drawing a breath.</p><p>There is no embarrassment anymore, but heartfelt delight at the chance to finally drink each other in without fear. Stroking her little hand with his trembling thumb, he speaks, and the happiness which his words produce, is such as Rey has probably never felt before.</p><p>“Sweetheart, will you believe if I say that I think about you all the time? You came in my life one day in <em>Astera</em>, suddenly and unexpectedly, with a smile and such a look as if you’d been waiting for me for long time.”</p><p>“Maybe I had,” whispers she, not daring to look away from him. He takes a deep breath, licking his lips before continuing.</p><p>“You were like some kind of a space princess with your buns, like a dream with notes of cinnamon and coffee, too good to be real… to feel like that from the first sight, and especially <em>about</em> <em>me</em>. I calmed myself down, confident that it was my imagination, of course, and you were just being nice as you would have been to any other customer. And I’d been proving myself right, watching you working behind the counter, making the best coffee in the world and heating pastries. You did all these beautiful pictures for me but never talked first, and I couldn’t make myself do it without fear of looking weird or scaring you off.</p><p>“But, you see, the more I looked at you, the more it revealed what was hidden inside you. I had come across a marvel like this only in good books before – and there were lots of them in my life, much more than good people. That happens when you are literally raised up by fictional characters in your home library. I used to envy writers and poets who managed to see the light, angels, and beautiful flowers in other people and even found some of them fair enough to compare with the beauty of the moon. To me, all of it was someone else’s memories, peerless in their magnificence. But here you are, Rey, your hand in mine, and now I know for sure that Shakespeare, Hugo, Petrarch, Fitzgerald, all the great writers taken together will never be enough to just <em>imagine</em> someone like you!”</p><p>Somebody else could find him pretentious or bombastic, but Rey knows he speaks from his heart. This is the language of a man who has never talked to anyone about his love before, instead being an eternal spectator of someone else's happiness and telling others about it.</p><p>A tear runs down her cheek. She feels afraid – not by him, but these beautiful, tremendous, stupendous feelings she somehow woke in his heart. The girl who still was unsure if she remembered her last name right, who was fixing her heart once ripped apart by her parents, a simple barista in a small coffee shop – suddenly finds herself worthy of such a miracle. This revelation feels strange, warm and soft like flower petals caressed by the sun, strong and luminous like a distant star at the same time. She embraces it, and a ghost of a smile appears on her lips, her heart thundering in her chest.</p><p>Ben reaches up to swipe his thumb across her cheekbone, featherlight and worried in his touch. Her eyes flutter slightly at the contact, and she misses it as soon as he drops his hand. His eyes glisten too, and he shakes his head, collecting himself.</p><p>They enter Amidala Park, a pretty and picturesque place in Theed, rich in old trees, marble statues, lawns and luxuriant flowerbeds, but there is too much to be thought and said for attention to any of them. Rey follows Ben towards the closest wooden bench. It’s a bit cold and hard, but she doesn’t care – as long as she can hold his hand. As if dealing with annoying burden, he throws their empty cups right in a bin in a sharp movement without looking and sits close to her.</p><p>Rey wants to say to him how his words resonated with her own feelings, how deeply right they were, but it seems easier to justify herself first.</p><p>“I was afraid I could scare you off too. You’re always nice and still so shy, so quiet, except when it comes to literature.”</p><p>Ben replies with an apologizing smile:</p><p>“As I said… growing up in the library, I've never been all that good with people. But I’m trying… now.”</p><p>She nods, seeing he has something more to say. He has, and his voice sounds mesmerized, as he squeezes her hand.</p><p>”Some just write a love poem and that’s it, but I never could make up at least one poor sonnet, no matter how much trying. So… Will you believe me, Rey, that every time I think about how to tell students about love for Laura de Sade, Daisy Buchanan, Elizabeth Bennet, Cosette, Portia, Fanny Brawne, Juliet or Agnes Wickfield, it’s you whom I see in my mind? It’s always you – your beautiful art, your pretty face, your graceful movements, your hands, your green eyes…”</p><p>Here is when he allows himself to smile, and Rey blushes, remembering how he described Portia not so long ago. She covers their joined hands with the other before asking a question that seems to be belated – just a little.</p><p>“Ben, I don’t understand. How is it possible that you saw so much? You barely looked at me.”</p><p>Her words are a whisper, but they seem to strike him to the core. Eyes wide open, he shakes his head and joins his hand to theirs already locked on the bench, like sealing a promise to tell her nothing but the truth.</p><p>“Sweetheart, I look at you more often than you think. When you’re busy with coffee machines in your beige apron, with a small bow on your waist. When you smile, looking at one more beautiful picture you made, wrinkling your nose. I know you like showing kids your stencils to let them choose which picture they’d like to see on their cocoa, or discuss it with them with all seriousness and a shining smile afterward. And that you get very happy when people order apple pie, like this is about a very special memory.</p><p>“I know that you don’t like matcha because of your brows furrowed, and almond milk makes you angry because it runs out too quickly. I know you felt sorry for poor Akbar and were angry with Estella. I know you’re tired when you turn to look at your drawings, as if asking them to give you strength. You have no idea how much I want to come and hug you at these moments… I wondered if there is someone who could hug you after a hard day, to tell you you’re doing great and maybe cook for you. The Force knows, I hoped there is, since I’m just… me. You deserve love more than anyone in this world.</p><p>“I found the easiest way to support you – by tips. You know, ‘<em>whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop’</em>. It may sound pathetic, but I hoped that, whether you buy yourself a book, or new shoes, or maybe apple pie, it will be like <em>I</em> give them to you.”</p><p>“Actually, you did,” Rey tilts her head, her voice kind but playful. “I’m pretty sure you helped me buy a couple of new dresses – you have excellent taste, Ben, I must say, - and a jar of perfect apple jam, which was very kind of you too, being an anti-fan of apples.”</p><p>The smile with which he meets her words, is boyish in its surprise and mirth. He is really happy to give her such a pleasure. She sighs, stroking his hand with her thumb. The memory he guessed right is bittersweet, though.</p><p>“And as for apple pie… there was a man in the Jakku orphanage I grew up, Mr. Johnson.”</p><p>A look between shock and sorrow crosses Ben’s features, but she doesn’t let him say anything.</p><p>“He was a social worker, very kind to children. With every visit on the holiday eves, he always brought large apple pies, warm and freshly baked, and I always helped him serve drinks. He also persuaded Mr. Plutt, the head of the orphanage, to let inmates including me plant a small flower garden in a courtyard and take care of it. I never let bullies touch a single petal. Every flower is special, you know, and there are no stencils for them like for latte art.</p><p>“One day Mr. Johnson took us to a planetarium, and here was where I learned all about the universe and stars that created everything. And I came up with the idea that they know the past, and some of them were here when my parents became… what they were. Stars let me dream and wonder, and they remind me that now I’m much stronger than they could see from millions light years away. I have a good life, no matter sometimes I think different. I moved to a beautiful city. I have friends and a great job that lets me draw and make people happier… and I met you, even if we never talked properly until today.”</p><p>Ben shakes his head, his brows furrowed and face twisted with emotions illuminated with a yellow light by a park lamp. He gently engulfs both her hands in his palms.</p><p>“Rey… If I had known… When I came to <em>Astera</em> last week and didn’t find you here, it felt like the world around me collapsed in a dark, icily cold abyss. I didn’t understand what a dreadful thing I had done to enrage the Force so much that it took someone most dear to me all of a sudden, just like it had let me meet you in the first place. Somebody might find it pretty fun – one more stupid man squandered a chance to be happy, and now it’s too late. I’ve never felt so alone…”</p><p>“You’re not alone,” Rey says. The corners of his lips pull up slightly – a response to the truth, the hope, the promise these words carry.</p><p>"Neither are you, sweetheart. Then Rose told me you had flu, and I-I barely remember anything I said and did after that, because all I could think about was I didn’t lose you forever. She said you would come back on Monday… I think I’ve never had more terrible weekends. I was determined to finally waste no time and <em>talk</em> to you – about your drawings or books, anything to be sure you came back.”</p><p>“I thought about you too on those says. I made sure Rose knows about how you like your coffee to be made, including milk and pictures for which I made special stencils.” Rey lets herself chuckle at this memory. “I sent her links to tutorials and told about what you had discussed with your students. But she…”</p><p>Ben’s eyes widen, and then, to her surprise, Rey feels his hands slipping from hers. He closes his eyes and shifts away, hiding his face in his palms with a sob, as if dealing with pain or terrible news. His dark locks are like a curtain though which she can barely hear his hushed whisper. “<em>This must be a dream, after all…”</em></p><p>She puts her hand on his shoulder, but he doesn’t move, fingers tugging at his hair.</p><p>“Ben, why it’s so hard for you to believe that someone… <em>I</em> could love you? You deserve it as much as I do.”</p><p>He doesn’t respond, and she moves closer, so he can feel her faint breath brush his left hand. “Please, tell me.”</p><p>Anyone who sees them at this moment, passing by after a stroll around a long pond in the distance, can’t resist throwing a glance at the strange yet impressive couple they make: a broad-shouldered, large man in black, hunched over the bench, and a girl in light, so small next to him and still the very image of power with a blazing look in her face.</p><p>Finally, he raises his head. Half in shadow, she sees his cheeks dry and eyes glistening. As if in a daze, he stares at a tree across a wide alley when he speaks.</p><p>“Maybe because I’ve never thought myself good enough to be loved – by anyone? My grandparents died when I was a kid, and my parents were always absent. I couldn’t help my father in the ‘<em>best Corellia Motors dealer center’</em>,” he scowls at someone else’s quote, his jaw clenched, “and my mother was busy with her research on social movements – ‘<em>a breakthrough for political science’</em>. The least thing I could do was not to cause any inconvenience, practically living in our library.“</p><p>Rey strokes his shoulder, as if trying to erase this all from his memory<em>. </em>She knows this pain, an acidic weight of worry about being <em>convenient</em>. It must be even harder when your own parents make you feel like that. Ben inhales deeply, looking down at his clenched hands.</p><p>“Is it better between you three now?”</p><p>“Yeah. Sometimes I pay a visit to them in the Lake Country.” He lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “But, you see, no one else ever needed me outside either. Books were my life, and I made my job to tell students all I’ve learned about them.”</p><p>“And you do it very good,” Rey says to him in all seriousness. “I mean it. You’re amazing. Even brilliant. And those who don’t see it are… kriffing nerf herders, that’s who they are!”</p><p>He looks at her sideways, quirking a brow, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.</p><p>“Could you tell me again, please, what did you do from my last name in <em>Astera</em>? <em>Soft, Observant, Lovesome, Outstanding</em>?“</p><p>She laughs, pressing her forehead against his shoulder, feeling something light and warm fluttering in her chest.</p><p>“This is what you heard, then?”</p><p>“And something about the prince, and my voice, and that it’s… a new feeling for you.”</p><p>She snaps her head up and looks at him, smiling and shining in a park light like a real angel. He finds her hand on the bench again.</p><p>“Well… before that I’d said how hot of you was preferring real paper over a datapad.” She cups his cheek and strokes little moles, touching a strong nose and feeling a soft wave of his hair against her fingers. His eyes don’t leave hers. “How I loved your raven locks and your eyes with golden sparks. You’re very beautiful, and you must believe me when I say it.”</p><p>His lips part in anticipation; he feels the most important thing coming. Rey feels her throat dry, as her hand slides down to his jawline, thumb brushing against a corner of his mouth.</p><p>“And I’d also said ‘<em>I've dreamt of kissing his lips since the first time I saw him’</em>.”</p><p>All his life, Ben has faithfully believed in the power of words – painful and caressing, angry and kind, ugly and beautiful, turning you down and lighting up hope. But they all become useless in a heartbeat. Leaning in, he presses his lips to hers, wrapping his arms around her narrow waist to pull her as close to him as possible. Her hand moves up his chest before landing on his neck. It feels like everything they have ever imagined at once and nothing you could find in this world but maybe in the galaxy far, far away.</p><p> </p><p>The kiss was slow and gentle at first, their lips tasting each other. But when Ben parts his lips with a quiet moan, Rey responds immediately, devouring him with a deeper kiss worthy of all quick glances, shy smiles, character descriptions and little pictures screaming of love. Her body pressed to his is tense in her determination to keep them both in this blissful oblivion, sheltered from the rest of the noisy world, and he is more than happy to help her. Kissing is sweet, their tongues caressing each other, and this has nothing to do with fruit tea or a scent of cinnamon that never leaves Rey.</p><p>She was wrong about being ready to spend her life looking into his eyes. It will never ever be enough, because now she knows the taste of him too.</p><p>Rey feels his fingers tangling in her loose strands of hair, as Ben pulls back in need of oxygen for his burned lungs. He seems to awaken from a wonderful dream, his gaze travelling across her face like a starry sky.</p><p>“Thank Pryde…”</p><p>Rey looks puzzled, her fingers still stroking his cheeks. “What?”</p><p>With a soft chuckle, he gives her a full-blown smile, and this is the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen in her life.</p><p>“A history teacher. He stopped me in the hall when I was already on my way to <em>Astera</em>. If I wasn’t late, I don’t know when I’d hear you saying all these words, calling me lovesome and so on.”</p><p>“I can call you <em>kissable</em> too, even there is no K in your name,” she teases him, nuzzling at his nose with hers. “Speaking of this… if Phasma approves this book club idea, does it mean I’ll listen to you reading more than twice a week?”</p><p>“She’s already approved. The Knights of Ren are now developing a reading plan.”</p><p>“The Knights of Ren? What does it mean?”</p><p><em>“Ren</em> has many meanings: <em>a ruler, rebirth</em>, and it’s also believed to be a virtue necessary to rule or live humanely.”</p><p>“And the Knights believe it’s impossible without reading?”</p><p>“Mmmm, yeah, I like the way you think.”</p><p>He is rewarded by one more kiss, and this time it’s Rey whose breath was stolen too quickly. He lets her pull back for just a few inches, still holding her tightly.</p><p>“So, will I see you more often?” she asks, curling her hands in his hair.</p><p>“I’m afraid no, sweetheart. I can’t miss my own classes, and later I’ll have to start working on my report to the Naboo Annual Literature Conference. But,” he holds her chin with his thumb and index finger, “I’m always ready to read to you in private.”</p><p>She hums contently, pecking his lips. “Now?”</p><p>He notices how she says it, tucking closer to him, hiding her hands under his coat collar.</p><p>“I don’t want you to get cold. I’d never forgive myself if you fell ill again!”</p><p>He looks around them, as if hoping to find a blanket somewhere on the ground.</p><p>“We could go to a café,” Rey says half-heartedly – and sees the same doubt in his eyes. They have no intention to share their newfound happiness with anyone.</p><p>“Or...” Ben tilts his head, and she sees his cheeks flushing again, “to my place. I live alone. We can order food, and I’ll read to you whatever you want. If it’s okay.”</p><p>Rey always trusts her heart. It told her join drawing class in the orphanage, choose Theed to move to, run to help Phasma who had almost dropped a bundle of new tablecloths ordered for <em>Astera</em> on a pavement and blurt out ‘<em>Yes</em>!’ when she offered her a job. It told her Ben needed her support. With a nod, she says aloud what it tells her now.</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>His face lights up.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ben's quote about learning more of the depth of another's soul is from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. I strongly recommend you to read this book if you haven't done it before!</p><p>More references (just un case):<br/>Laura de Sade is known as a woman that the Humanist poet Francesco Petrarch wrote about pretty much.<br/>Fanny Brawne was the muse to English Romantic poet John Keats<br/>Agnes Wickfield is one of dearest friends and then a wife of Dickens's David Copperfield. Estella Havisham is a character from another novel of his, Great Expectations.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I make my heaven in your lap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fluff, little smut, and fluff, 'cause our babies are in love! - and the other regulars become suspicious...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The title of this chapter is a quote from Henry VI by William Shakespeare that I corrected a little.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rey could say this is Ben Solo’s apartment even if he didn’t stand next to her, taking off his coat and reaching out to take her jacket to hang them on hooks. It’s hard not to notice a whole wall of completely full bookcases in his living room right after walking through the door, and she suspects there may be even more in his bedroom (or even in the kitchen). They are the only splashes of bright colors in the interior here, all white, grey and light blue.</p><p>Ben catches her lips in a quick, playful kiss, and gestures towards the foyer.</p><p>“Make yourself at home.”</p><p><em>I already do</em>, Rey thinks, remembering their trip here made up of kisses mixed with small talks, enveloped by the feelings of his arm on her shoulders and his laugh in her hair. She’s never felt herself so light and so alive.</p><p>The fact that Ben doesn’t like apples seems really funny now, as it’s simply impossible to find a better description of his place than <em>in apple-pie order</em>. His shoes, outwear, towels in the bathroom and kitchen utensils, as well as worksheets and college materials on the desk – everything is perfect. Even a few plants on the windowsill in the living room don’t dare to grow askew.</p><p>He watches her attentively from the couch as she approaches his collection, passing her admiring gaze over the books, new and old, thick and thin, pocket editions of poems and complete works of Cervantes, Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Shakespeare.</p><p>“You surprised me. I thought there will be more,” she shrugs, waving her hand towards the shelves. “I could read them all in a week, you know.”</p><p>“How ambitious of you,” Ben chortles, “but I have a hundred more in the next room.”</p><p>“Fine, two weeks. Just feed me regularly.”</p><p>“Sushi is coming, sweetheart.”</p><p>With a wink, she sits next to him on the couch, pointing at simple velvet pillows.</p><p>“I think, for <em>a decent bookworm</em>, you’re missing some covers with portraits. I can draw them for you, if you want.”</p><p>He barks a laugh, throwing his head on the back of the couch before kissing her cheek.</p><p>“A decent bookworm would be very grateful. And what pillows can you find in the house of a perfect barista?” he nods at her playfully. “A coffee bean? A cinnamon stick?”</p><p>“No idea. But I have a droid.”</p><p>“That one from <em>Galactic Battles</em>?”</p><p>“Have you seen them?”</p><p>“Just a few days ago. I thought they couldn’t be bad, as <em>you</em> like them enough to compare to Shakespeare. Actually… I think they’re good. And the way that bad space knight got his redemption in the end, joining his love in the army of his ex-enemies, can even be called poetic, I think.”</p><p>“Ben,” Rey asks him very seriously, “are you really trying to make me fall in love with you more than I do?”</p><p>The doorbell rings, and he stands up to get their food.</p><p>“Maybe,” he throws over his shoulder, smiling at her loud gasp. She has no idea what a badass he feels himself at this moment, heart hammering away in his chest.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A short time later, Rey sighs contently. She is full, cuddling with Ben under a cozy warm blanket on the couch after a long and deep conversation about a connection between space operas and classical literature, his chest under her head slowly moving up and down with his breath. It’s a surprisingly comforting feeling that makes her think about a peaceful blue ocean, even though she’s never seen one with her own eyes.</p><p>She traces circles on the sleeve of his blue shirt with her finger when he asks:</p><p>“So, what would you like me to read you?”</p><p>“Whatever you’ve read recently.”</p><p>He thinks a little, stroking her back. Then he sits straighter, and Rey understands he’s ready. She closes her eyes, waiting his velvet voice to do its magic.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“’Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And watching, with eternal lids apart,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The moving waters at their priestlike task</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And so live ever—or else swoon to death.’</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Bright Star</em> by John Keats. It reminds me of you, sweetheart.”</p><p>“It’s beautiful, Ben,” Rey whispers, peaceful and half-asleep despite herself. She can literally see a star and a man looking at it from the ground, full of love and fear to lose it. She holds him tighter. “I wish for the same thing as him. Please, read more.”</p><p>He kisses her forehead. ”Would you mind more Shakespeare?”</p><p>She tries her best to shake her head without pulling away from him.</p><p> </p><p>“‘<em>Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is took,</em></p><p>
  <em>And each doth good turns now unto the other:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When that mine eye is famish'd for a look,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Or heart in love with sighs himself doth smother,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With my love's picture then my eye doth feast,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And to the painted banquet bids my heart;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Another time mine eye is my heart's guest,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And in his thoughts of love doth share a part:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So, either by thy picture or my love,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thy self away, art present still with me;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>For thou not farther than my thoughts canst move,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And I am still with them, and they with thee;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Or, if they sleep, thy picture in my sight</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Awakes my heart, to heart's and eyes' delight.’”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A soft smile stays on her lips when she falls asleep, lulled by Ben’s voice, the feeling of his solid muscular chest against her cheek and his strong hand wrapping around her body with a promise of safety. She vaguely feels him releasing himself from her hold with a soft sigh, carefully putting her legs on the couch and covering her body with the blanket.</p><p>“I love you,” she whispers to the velvet pillow. Somewhere from above her head, she can hear <em>‘I know.’</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Rey wakes up, smelling something warm and sweet. <em>Pancakes</em>. Her first feeling is confusion: could she forget to turn off the stove before coming back to bed? Did she ever leave it?</p><p>Then, she feels velvet under her cheek and soft wool under her hands. This is not her bed linen, and her couch is different. A realization comes to her in a flash, with memories of feeling soft lips against her own and deep brown eyes full of the love that the most beautiful words in the world are unable to express.</p><p>So, she woke up in Ben’s place…</p><p>…after falling asleep in the middle of their date. <em>Kriff</em>. But whose fault is it that in his arms she feels so good?</p><p>Her watch says she has plenty of time before the start of her shift. Rey yawns, pushing the blanket off her and undoing her messy bun. He left towels for her on the top of the couch, and, pressing the bundle to her chest along with her bag, she sneaks to the bathroom.</p><p>As a kid, Rey learned how to get cleaned up fast in any setting. She gets the rest of her make up off with eye remover pads and cleans her teeth with her finger and Ben’s minty-fresh toothpaste before grabbing a piece of his fruit soap. After combing her hair, she feels herself ready to their first breakfast together and follows the sweet smell to his small kitchen.</p><p>Ben stands in front of a stove in a black tee-shirt and gray pajama pants, adding the last golden pancake to the tower on a plate next to him. She can hear him whispering something to himself, maybe one more sonnet.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>He turns to her quickly, putting down a spatula, so tiny in his large hand, and gives her a blinding smile. It feels like nothing in the world is more natural and pleasant for him than making breakfast for them both.</p><p>“Hey. I was about to wake you. <em>Astera</em> opens soon.”</p><p>Something warm blooms inside Rey’s chest, reflecting in her eyes and voice. “My shift starts later.”</p><p>With these words, she closes the distance between them and tugs him down for a lingering kiss, wrapping one arm around his neck and ruffling his lush hair. Ben smirks against her lips, quickly drawing her closer and switching the stove off with the other hand. This kiss is softer than their first one, but Rey can still see the stars.</p><p>“My mornings have never been so good,” he murmurs, cupping her cheek, his lips moving upward. “You know, you’re just perfect for my forehead kisses, sweetheart.”</p><p>She sighs. “And I fell asleep when you were reading me the sonnets. <em>So romantic</em>.”</p><p>“Mmmm, but you did it on my chest,” he kisses her freckled nose and cheeks. “Now I have a reason to read you that sonnet again. My classes start in a few hours too.”</p><p>A loud rumble in her stomach makes her groan in exasperation and him laugh.</p><p>“Okay, okay, I get it. I hope you don’t mind pancakes?”</p><p>“Not at all.”</p><p>When hungry, she can eat whatever can be found in her small fridge, but this is <em>delicious</em>. She slowly savors a mix of cheese and sweet yellow honey wrapped in a warm pancake, with her eyes glued to the sky by the window, the corners of her lips pulled up as she chews. Ben watches her with something between fascination and amusement, forgetting about his own portion.</p><p>She casts a glance to him, brows furrowed. “Is everything okay? Your food is getting cold.”</p><p>“I was just thinking,” he smiles, running his fingers through his hair.</p><p>“You better show some respect to this ambrosia of pancakes, Professor Solo!” she points at him with her finger in a judgey manner, her eyes laughing. He surrenders with a chuckle.</p><p>Six pancakes later, her lips sweet and sticky, Rey asks him jokingly:</p><p>“You found this recipe in someone’s biography, didn’t you?”</p><p>He shakes his head, chewing the last bite. “It’s our family recipe.”</p><p>“A family recipe,” Rey repeats after him, wiping her fingers with a tissue. It sounds good to her. And unfamiliar. “Do you have more?”</p><p>“No. As I said, my parents were very busy. This is the only thing that somehow connected us on weekends.” He shrugs, as if it’s not a big deal, but Rey knows it is. She touches his arm before standing up to put her plate in the sink.</p><p>“Thank you for sharing this with me. I really appreciate it.”</p><p>Returning to take his plate and utensils, she presses her side to his for a moment, and Ben sighs quietly. Rey feels his gaze on her as she washes the dishes, both feel surprised by how their lives could change so rapidly. Just yesterday they woke up in their own beds, only <em>dreaming</em> of seeing each other, and now they are together in Ben’s kitchen full of sunlight and smelling of pancakes he baked for them to celebrate their first date – to give <em>her</em> a precious gift for all the pictures she has been making on his coffee with her heart. She wishes they could stay here forever, like in that sonnet to some bright star.</p><p>Something warm grows in the pit of her stomach, fluttering like hundreds of butterflies in excitement. Rey feels her heart pounding, watching as the clear water chases the foam down the drain. When she turns it off, her hand trembles slightly. With a languid smile playing on her lips, she says:</p><p>“I think I want something else.”</p><p>She hears him standing up from his stool just a few feet behind her. “After a batch of pancakes? Well, the pastries from <em>Astera</em> are in the fridge-”</p><p>
  <em>“Ben…”</em>
</p><p>She turns to him. There is a question here – a bit shy, but solid and clear in its thrill.</p><p>Ben drops his hand, realization slowly spreading across his face. He licks his lips, and Rey vaguely remembers the look on his face right after her legend of a speech, like she was all he could see in his world. She suspects she looked at him in the same way.</p><p>He takes the smallest step towards her, as if giving her time to change her mind. But she doesn’t, pressing her rump against the countertop, looking at him from under eyelashes. Finally, he speaks, his voice suddenly hoarse and eyes twinkling.</p><p>“Yeah.” She raises her head to meet his gaze as he stands inches from her, his hands sliding from her hips to her waist, ready to lift her up to him. “Me too.”</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p>Rey enters the backroom of <em>Astera</em> with a smile on her face. Rose, who is just about to leave, immediately places her hands on her hips, looking intimidating.</p><p>“Ahhh, look who’s here – Miss Rey <em>I Reply ‘Everything’s Fine’ To Your Fifty Texts! </em>I’ll have you know that you can CALL me from your phone too!”</p><p>Rey sighs in defeat, hugging her tightly.</p><p>“Hi Rosie. I’m so, so, so sorry, I completely forgot about my phone.”</p><p>“Oh, really?” Rose grimaces against her shoulder. “Let me guess, WHY? Because of the date I arranged for you, mmmm? You’re lucky that I love you, angel, otherwise even your personal refrigerator wouldn’t stop me from-”</p><p>Rey laughs, happily and lightly, stroking her offended back.</p><p>“Rose, I love him so much. Ben is… everything. Everything I called him yesterday and even more. I don’t know how it is possible, but feels like we share one soul. He makes me feel so good. He inspires me to create new pictures here in <em>Astera</em>, and I help him find the right words for his classes, and… and when we are together, the world stops. It’s all wonder of wonders.”</p><p>Rose scoffs, but her voice sounds much softer when she finally hugs her back.</p><p>“Considering that you’re wearing yesterday's clothes, you spent your date at his place, thoroughly examining and analyzing this phenomenon from every angle.”</p><p>Rey hums in response, her toes curling at the last words. Rose pulls back to look at her, playing her eyebrows up and down, a cunning smile blooming on her lips.</p><p>“Now, my girl… Tell me what I want to hear so much.” She squeezes her shoulders tighter. “Can we now call him <em>as hot as shy</em>?”</p><p>“As hot as <em>not </em>shy anymore, and that’s all I can say!” Rey replies empathetically, feeling warmth on her cheeks. Her words are met by a whistle with which Rose steps back, lifting her hands in protective gestures and shaking her head.</p><p>“Your face tells me enough. I had no idea that all this time I’ve been working alongside with an insidious temptress disguised as a pure angel, who seduces innocent young professors with her green eyes and good coffee.”</p><p>Rey chuckles, taking off her jacket with the brooch still pinned to her lapel.</p><p>“I never called myself an angel.”</p><p>“Now I see why. Fine, now serious,” Rose takes her bag and stops to peck her cheek on her way to the exit. “I’m so happy for you both, my babies. Don’t forget to thank Paige for that little gift – she’ll be on cloud nine.”</p><p>Left alone, Rey hides her face in her hands, feeling butterflies in her stomach tickling from inside. Her mind flies her back to the bedroom with black cotton sheets and scents of spice and wood, to Ben tenderly caressing her body with his hands, lips, and tongue. There was no time for reading like in her dreams, but she was in his lap and they were face to face, exploring and kissing and letting their quiet laugh slowly transform into moans. It was new to her, and it was new to him, and they didn’t let go of each other until there was nowhere higher to climb and their vision became white.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>She gets a text from him right after finishing the most elegant rosetta on the top of latte macchiato in her career.</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Sweetheart, I’m afraid something happened to me. Hux, Pryde, even Tai tell me that I didn’t act like myself. Anxious, they even wonder if someone found one of lost works by Shakespeare or the last chapters of Togruta Wives and Daughters considered unfinished, as nothing else in the world could make me laugh at Hux’s jokes or tune into their conversation. You should see their faces. I’m getting worried too.</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Ben, this is serious </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Why do you think you did that?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I have a theory. Someone ethereal, if I may say, has been following me since my yesterday’s visit to Astera, to my dear barista. I saw her in Amidala park later, beauteous and sweet, and then in my home – under my favorite blanket on my couch, in my kitchen this morning, savoring my pancakes and calling them ambrosia, and finally in my bed. I’m terribly sure I called her my light, because – and this surprises me most – she makes me feel alive even when we’re not together.</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Could such a wondrous creature force me to act so strange, sweetheart? What do you think?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I’m afraid she can ‘cause she seems to feel the same way</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I’ll help you, my S.O.L.O. We’ll figure this out tonight</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Thank you, Rey. I really need your help.</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Rey laughs at his mock seriousness, her spine arching at the awareness of what’s hidden beneath it.</p><p>The rest of her workday is blur with smells of vanilla, coffee, and caramel that fades as soon as she meets Ben. They manage to dissolve his deep worries by the time they get to her apartment, and the feeling of relief he experiences is so great that, seconds after Rey locks the door behind them, he crushes his lips to hers.</p><p><em>“I make my heaven in your lap,” </em>he whispers later, palming her thigh, his words tickling her bare abdomen. Propped up on her elbow on the sheets, Rey cards her fingers through his sweaty hair, idle in the afterglow.</p><p>“Is it a quote? Didn’t you say they failed to express your feelings for me?”</p><p>Ben raises his head to encounter her eye with a grin that matches his muscular frame in a heady way. “I did. I changed it. That man just dreamed of what became my reality.”</p><p>His look tells Rey he meant it, and she believes; her fingers slide to caress his cheek, and she can’t help but giggle with content, as, pecking her palm, he kisses his way to her face.</p><p>“Dark times are coming for the Royal College, huh?” she manages, her breath hitching in her throat under his lips. She drops her hand, letting him wrap his arms around her and roll them both over, so she’s on top. Pressing her against the taut muscles of his chest, Ben says with a hint of smugness:</p><p>“I don’t give a <em>damn</em>.”</p><p>His tone makes her shiver, warmth blooming through her veins.</p><p>Their lips meet, and the world around fades.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>.</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>  </strong>
</p><p>Everybody in <em>Astera</em> can’t wait for Thursday to see Professor Solo for the first time after he and Rey confessed their feelings to each other. Since the very morning Rey has been catching Rose’s meaningful looks and Kaydel’s winks, but they don’t make her blush or stutter. Why would they, actually, if she woke up hearing his alarm after the night of peaceful sleep, his chest being her pillow, his heartbeat being her lullaby? If she knows they’ll be together this night again?</p><p>So, she makes coffee, tea, and cocoa, her movements fast and confident as usual, her smile just a little bit wider than usual.</p><p>When he walks in, they both act like true professionals. Only a very attentive person could notice that Professor Solo stays by the counter a little longer than it’s necessary to order latte with extra cinnamon. Or that barista Rey Niima barely brushes her knuckles against his while putting a cup on his table with a picture of a man under a starry sky and he smirks. Finally, only Rose can notice the glances they exchange right after his students coming – as if making a secret deal with just their eyes.</p><p>In short, they manage to disappoint everybody privy to their affair. A flame of hope that flickers when Ben suddenly (and loudly) recalls lines from <em>The Tempest (‘Hear my soul speak: the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service’), </em>gets to knocked down by Rey who just wags an eyebrow at his direction.</p><p>“You guys are quite something,” Rose tells her, carefully putting a chocolate croissant on a white plate and waiting her to finish with flat white. “You may seem complete strangers, oddly enough to me, considering everything what happened, and still, I can feel a kind of bond between you two I can’t explain. But it’s… cool.”</p><p>“Yes, it is,” Rey intones, handing her a drink, her eyes shining. “And the best thing is I haven’t mixed up salt and sugar so far, and my coffee is great as always, knock on wood. Because I’m not lovesick, <em>I’m just in love</em>.”</p><p>She tilts her head, throwing a glance at Ben busy talking to Cardo before returning to work.</p><p>Rose chuckles. Rey misestimates herself…</p><p> </p><p>… and Mr. Andor and Mrs. Erso Andor noticed it just yesterday, Kaydel told her. Rey has always been very kind and attentive to them, but, watching her waltzing behind her counter as if listening to the music audible only to her, they felt something had changed. Also, she never smiled <em>so</em> tenderly, adding a new delicious mix of cardamon and sugar they both had agreed to try in their cups.</p><p>Mrs. Erso Andor called Kaydel.</p><p>"Pardon my curiosity, darling, I’m just a nosy old woman, but… am I right in thinking that someone wonderful appeared in the life of our pretty angel?”</p><p>Kaydel switched her gaze at Rey who froze in front of the pastry display, staring at colorful rows of tarts as if they were kittens or something as cute. Mr. Andor and Mrs. Erso Andor looked at her with the same expression of anticipation.</p><p>“Yeah, he did...”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Mrs. Kanata notices it second.</p><p>“Make love, not deals, you stupid laser brains!” she growls at her copy of <em>Takodana Business Weekend </em>one day, sipping her spiced tea in annoyance.</p><p>“Exactly, Mrs. Kanata!” Rey and Rose reply in unison. Rey doesn’t realize she sounds louder and far more jovial than usual, and it costs her a very attentive look from Mrs. Kanata through her big thick glasses. As soon as she leaves the counter, humming under her breath, the business lady in retirement calls Rose.</p><p>“My flower, the little Triple Buns is always shining with joy, but I’m starting to think there’s someone else behind it. She clearly loves her job, but even I never cooed over my income reports so much as she did over my spiced tea. There’s too much cinnamon today, but I’m not complaining. So, would you give me a cue, mm?”</p><p>Rose sighs, anxious to share and still unsure. Finally, she nods. “Mrs. Kanata, you’re right.”</p><p>“No more words!” the woman throws her hand in the air, her lips quirking upwards. “I’m so glad. She deserves all the happiness in this world. Oh, maybe I could see them here?”</p><p>“Him. I doubt it…”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Finally, Finn and Poe Dameron notice it one Sunday.</p><p>“Nice broche!” Poe nods at the ornament Rey pinned on her shirt right above the edge of her apron.</p><p>“Thank you,” she smiles, wrapping their sandwiches in paper. “What are you going to work on today?”</p><p>“Oh, nothing special, just an ad of quadcopters. Actually,” Poe leans on the counter, “do you remember we told you about our colleague who is crazy about meaning of flowers? She told something about roses too. Honey, remind me, Pava said that pink…”</p><p>“White for purity… red for passion… Pink for gratitude or admiration,” Finn recalls, crossing his hands over his chest. “Oh! And no thorns for love at first sight.”</p><p>They three lower their gazes to the smooth small silver stem of the rose. Both amused, Poe and Finn grin at Rey whose smile couldn’t be wider, cheeks turning as pink as the tiny petals. She laughs, brushing her fingers against her buns.</p><p>“Hmmmmm, sounds interesting,” she hands them their cups as if nothing happened before glancing at the empty corner table.</p><p>On the street, Poe and Finn come across Paige on her smoke break, whom they both know too. After a small talk, Finn asks the most important question.</p><p>“Is it possible that Cupid shot someone with love in <em>Astera</em>?”</p><p>Paige rolls her eyes at him, taking a long drag.</p><p>“Oh, you noticed. You mispronounced ‘<em>bombarded</em>’. By tall and hot Cupid of a man.”</p><p>“Is he a good guy?” asks Finn, raising his eyebrow. “Will he treat Rey well?”</p><p>Poe can’t take his delighted eyes off Paige.</p><p>“Oh yeah, they are a match made in heaven. I’m not kidding…” she says.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p>This Monday is special for many reasons, but for now, Rey knows just a few of them.</p><p>When Ben walks in, her face lights up. He stands in front of the counter with an entrancing smile invisible to the other customers, shielding her from them for a few seconds. They are enough to order latte with extra cinnamon and also remember this morning, when she woke him up, dotting kisses along his chest and sleepy face and he refused to let her leave the bed until every constellation of freckles on her body would be worshiped properly. The memory makes her sigh, tracing her hand from the back of her neck to her collarbone.</p><p>“It’s our one-month anniversary today,” he says quietly, his eyes bright and shining with happiness. She tilts her head at him, reciprocating his smile.</p><p>“I remember. We're having a dinner at my place, and my fridge is full.”</p><p>“Well, I'm most looking forward for the dessert.”</p><p>Rey’s eyes widen, his words taking her breath away and bringing warmth to her stomach. Still, she manages to whisper:</p><p>
  <em>“Don’t make me blush, S.O.L.O.”</em>
</p><p>He bites his bottom lip.</p><p>“Sorry, sweetheart,” he says without a hint of sorrow in his voice.</p><p>“Let me remind you that patience is a virtue, just like <em>Ren.”</em></p><p>She barely has time to school her face from a roguish smirk to a neutral expression when he goes to his table.</p><p>He told her he was always ready to read her in private, but now he clearly enjoys doing it on every occasion. Rey is not sure if it’s really necessary to mention <em>Love’s Philosophy</em> by Percy Shelley when they discuss <em>Twelfth Night</em>, but he reads it anyway after finding out his students didn’t see a connection, his eyes glued to the window across the area.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“’...See the mountains kiss high heaven</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And the waves clasp one another;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>No sister-flower would be forgiven</em>
</p><p>
  <em>If it disdained its brother;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And the sunlight clasps the earth</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And the moonbeams kiss the sea:</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What is all this sweet work worth</em>
</p><p>
  <em> If thou kiss not me?’”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>His voice has never been so expressive and deep.</p><p>“How impatient,” Rey whispers to herself, butterflies in her stomach. Raising her head, she is surprised to see her other regulars.</p><p>“Hello, Mr. Andor, Mrs. Erso Andor,” she smiles at the old couple across the counter. “I’m glad you decided to change your habits.”</p><p>The old man smiles.</p><p>“Hello, Rey. To be honest, Jyn and I are here to remember how real chocolate tastes like, preferably with cappuccino.”</p><p>“We just returned from our friends who tortured us with a <em>terrible</em> mush and dared to call it cake,” adds his wife. “Will you help us, please? These mini chocolate cakes look great.”</p><p>Rey laughs. “I’ll do my best.”</p><p>They take the table not so far from the corner one, glancing towards Ben and his students with great interest.</p><p>Mrs. Kanata comes a few minutes later.</p><p>“I need to eat terrible news from the stock exchange. Rey, my angel, can I ask you for a jogan fruit tart and spiced tea?”</p><p>She nods, more than happy to help ease her sufferings. Mrs. Kanata takes a table next to Mr. Andor and Mrs. Erso Andor. They three notice Rey’s smile when Ben praises his student for remembering that the lines about <em>'love that shall not die till the sun grows cold and the stars are old'</em> are not from Shakespeare, as well as his quick glance towards Rey after that, and exchange knowing smirks.</p><p>When Ben’s session is coming to an end, Rey sees Poe and Finn walking into the shop.</p><p>“Back so soon!” she greets them with an amused smile.</p><p>“Sometimes client meetings end much earlier,” Poe winks at her, his hands on his hips. Finn moves to have a look at the pastry display, glancing sideways at the corner table. “We want to celebrate, Rey. Two latte with caramel drizzle and vanilla, please.”</p><p>“And two maple pecan plaits!” Finn adds enthusiastically.</p><p>“Oh, and don’t forget whipped cream,” Poe tells a wrinkle on her brow while she’s busy with a cash register.</p><p>“I wouldn’t dare,” with a smile, she turns to coffee machines. Poe and Finn slowly move towards the closest unoccupied table, looking indifferently at the group at the corner table.</p><p>Exchanging panicked glances, Kaydel, Rose, and Paige approach the unexpected regulars when they call them. They didn’t give anyone many details on Rey and Ben’s story, limiting themselves with describing the latter as a perfect man for their beloved barista. They clearly didn’t expect them <em>all </em>to come here today and now are afraid of what Rey would do.</p><p> </p><p>“This must be him? What a handsome gentleman!” Mrs. Erso Andor whispers to Kaydel. “Of non-classical beauty, if I may say so, but sort of a knight type. He’s so lucky to meet Rey. By the way, Cassian,” she turns to look at her husband, “you owe me after these terrible five days with the Malbuses. Now I expect <em>you </em>to read me poems at least twice a week.”</p><p>Mr. Andor looks bewildered. “Stardust, I was about to ask the same from you. I love your voice so much…”</p><p> </p><p>Next to them, Mrs. Kanata is stern in her judgment.</p><p>“Pancake ass,” she mutters, looking at Ben over the edge of her cup, as he rises to his feet to take a sheet of paper from the far edge of the table. Rose presses her hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh. “But if our Peach likes him, then fine. I immediately knew it’s him. She tries so hard to not to look at his table that I can see how much she wants to be studied too. Now, where could I find someone to read to me <em>Business Weekend </em>in the same gorgeous voice? Otherwise, these stoopas will kill me…”</p><p> </p><p>Paige just raises her eyebrows at Poe and Finn, leaning closer.</p><p>“We really had a client meeting, I swear! He’s hot, as you said,” Poe says competently, sipping his drink, “and in good shape so not to hit with just strong rhymes if somebody dares to approach Rey.”</p><p>“Show me such a fool,” chuckles Finn. “Besides, I suspect <em>she’d </em>beat any girl silly enough to approach <em>him</em>. A power couple, in a nutshell.”</p><p>Paige nods in agreement. “Exactly.”</p><p>“My Storm,” Poe tells Finn, pointing at his bag, “it’s been a while since we were at the theatre. Buy us tickets for some romantic play – I want more love around me.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Right after his student leave, Rey approaches Ben’s table to take away empty cups as always, with a polite barista smile that would be enough for any customer in the shop. He slowly brushes his hand against the back of her knee, invisible to the others, before putting it back on the table. She blinks, clearing her throat.</p><p>“Would you like anything else, Professor? My shift ends soon.”</p><p>”I have a gift for you, sweetheart. A readable one,” he says, his face expression is neutral, his eyes smiling.</p><p>She chuckles, closing her eyes for a moment. Oh course it is.</p><p>“I thought Shelley and Taylor were my gifts?”</p><p>“Ugh, just a foreplay, because I missed you. I will read mine at home, only to you. By the way, it is the other regulars you told me about who are sitting there, right? I recognized Mrs. Kanata’s drilling eyes as soon as she came here, and Mr. Andor and his wife are as nice as you told me. I guess here are the Damerons, a creative spirit in flesh?”</p><p>Rey raises her head to see the first three already sitting at one table, talking to each other and smiling. Poe taps the screen of the datapad in Finn’s hands, seeming to look up something.</p><p>“Yeah. They all suddenly needed my help to cope with their problems or celebrate – in the last case. Suddenly,” she says again, looking back at Ben, her brows furrowed. Her eyes scan the shop until she meets Rose’s innocent gaze, and then Kaydel’s. <em>Too innocent</em>.</p><p>Her smile fades. Could it really be a coincidence that bad news from the stock exchange arrived on the same day with the awakening of love for chocolate and a client meeting that ended earlier?.. And was she <em>the only one</em> who could help?</p><p>“Your ladybirds of co-workers really care about you,” Ben chuckles, shaking his head.</p><p>“They do,” Rey says, teeth gritted. “And sometimes we all buzz too much.” She adds, feeling tears in her throat: “Ben, this may look even more creepy than what I did…”</p><p>Before he can say anything, Paige already stands by his table.</p><p>“Rey, I know what you think. Neither of them lied to you about why they came here. Poe and Finn and the rest had been asking about you being in love – and we just said Ben was nice and taught literature there, and that you were head over heels for each other! I swear we didn’t tell anybody about the time of his sessions.”</p><p>Rey closes her eyes, her lips pursed. Maybe Tatooine would not be so bad if she was with him…</p><p>Ben asks Paige to leave them with his eyes.</p><p>“Rey,” he sounds serious, touching her leg again and making her look at him, “this really may be a coincidence. Besides, and this is more important, you yourself told me that job let you make people happier. That’s why they are regulars <em>here</em>, not at any other shop around. They know you, they love you – <em>of course they do</em>. My colleagues, even my parents said I had changed, and what if you have too? What if <em>they</em> noticed and just wanted to make sure you’ll be fine?”</p><p>She releases a deep breath, calmed down by his soft voice. His analytical skills are always awake.</p><p>“And you… you are okay with that?” she nods towards the seating area. He thinks a little, chewing his lips, and then shrugs.</p><p>“I think I myself would do the same thing, even if it broke my heart. But, as long as you’re with me, I don’t care about anyone, sweetheart. Such popularity is the price of love for the best barista in the world, who also happens to be the most gorgeous woman and loves me back. I’m ready to pay in full.”</p><p>She can’t hold back her huffed laugh, squeezing his cup with both her hands to stay still instead of climbing in his lap right now and kiss. He dimples at her, leaning against the brick wall.</p><p>They are quiet in their happiness, but their smiles are radiant, and their eyes tell those eight people who are watching them at this moment with pleased expressions that they’re violently in love.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>They are not so quiet later, hidden from everyone in Rey’s bedroom, moving in time skin to skin and making each other see stars. They shine brighter with every word he breathes in reply to her gasp and every kiss she leaves on his parted lips to remind she loves him.</p><p>When Ben falls asleep, curling himself around her, his strong arm encircling her waist, Rey looks at the window. The voice in which he read her his gift after the dinner she’d made for them – <em>his own little story, written in calligraphy</em> – was deep, serious and trembling with love. She remembers every word.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"‘I thought I knew what love is – and then you proved I didn’t.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But who are you, my sweetheart? Please, listen what I think.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A harmony? You aren’t – but my heart’s full with it;</em>
</p><p><em>A flower? No, but I see – both lips and petals pink;</em> </p><p>
  <em>The sun? With warmth you caress – but not so blindingly;</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A star? You guide me home – but too far is a blink.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A miracle? That’s closer. But my arms tell you‘re real. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>My harmony, my flower, my sun and star and miracle,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You’re all and none of them. Ergo, and what’s to say?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just one thing – you are Rey.’ </em>
</p><p>“My Rey, my love, my everything,” he added, taking her face in his hands, placing feathery kisses on her eyes glistened with tears. Her fingers traced his chest and shoulders, clasping behind his neck as she whispered:</p><p>“I love you, my Ben, and when I can’t tell you this, just look at your coffee,” before drawing their lips together.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Ben Solo,“ she whispers to him again, her fingers stroking his forearm. “Soft, Observant, Lovesome, Outstanding.”</p><p>As if hearing her, he sighs with delight, pulling her closer to his chest under the blanket.</p><p>When Rey closes her eyes, she talks to real stars.</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know what you’re seeing now… but here I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. If I cry, I cry from happiness. If I’m afraid, that’s because I’ve never loved like that before, nor someone has ever loved me as much as he does. I don’t know which stars mine and his souls are made of, but I'm starting to think they were the same.”</em>
</p><p>She falls asleep with a smile on her lips.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Togruta Wives and Daughters is a reference to the unfinished work by Elizabeth Gaskell. </p><p>Ben's poem is also my first rhyming poem in English. I really hope you liked it :*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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